- Holiday home owners have been singled out by tax investigators in a crackdown
- Vacation hotspots in the Hunter Valley, the Southern Highlands are included
- The ATO found ‘majority’ of owners assessed ‘failed to correctly declare income’
- Operations such as Airbnb and Stayz will be included in the scope of inquiry
Holiday home owners have been singled out by tax investigators who are cracking down on tax avoidance by property investors.
An investigation by the Daily Telegraph found vacation hotspots in the Hunter Valley, the Southern Highlands, Sydney’s northern beaches, the Gold Coast and Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula will be the focus of random audits.
Tax deductions and holiday income will be scrutinised as the Australian Taxation Office found, since the investigation began last year, the ‘majority’ of rental property owners assessed have ‘failed to correctly declare income from holiday houses or had attempted to claim too many deductions’.
An investigation found vacation hotspots in the Hunter Valley, the Southern Highlands, Sydney’s northern beaches (pictured), the Gold Coast and Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula will be the focus of random audits
Holiday home owners have been singled out by tax investigators in a crackdown (pictured: Brighton Beach)
Some caught up in the crackdown were shown to be claiming deductions on properties which did not exist, whereas others were claiming empty lots were rented.
Operations such as Airbnb and Stayz are likely to also be included in the scope of inquiry to track suspicious activity. deputy tax commissioner Kath Anderson said.
Approximately two million taxpayers reported rental incomes of $40.1 billion in 2016, with $43.6 billion claimed in deductions which was the equivalent to a tax loss of about $3.5 billion.
‘What we are seeing is that the majority of rental property owners we audit are getting it wrong, either deliberately or by mistake,’ Ms Anderson said.
Operations such as Airbnb and Stayz will be included in the scope of inquiry (pictured: Hunter Valley)
The ATO found ‘majority’ of owners assessed ‘failed to correctly declare income’ (pictured: Gold Coast)
‘Australians expect us to take action against people who get an unfair advantage by cheating the system … incorrect rental property claims will not go unnoticed.’
A number of issues were related to ‘mates rates’ for holiday rentals and owners setting restrictions on the homes which lead the ATO to deem the properties no longer for lease.
According to Airbnb the average host could make ‘a modest’ $5600 a year, and said the company were taking active measures to ensure hosts were obliging to tax responsibilities.